Authoritarianism in Action
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: In this paper, we take a behavioral approach to the psychological study of authoritarianism. We specify authoritarian behavior as the products of interactions between people and official systems of power, which forward the personal and political interests of some over others, at the expense of the rule of law. In doing so, we focus on hybrid authoritarianism, or the leveraging of legitimate systems of adjudication for quashing pluralism and consolidating power. We seek to explain current and historical authoritarian tactics—punishing dissidents, persecuting minorities, and codifying ingroup norms into law–as satisfying immediate motives like retribution or obedience, and made more or less likely by existing predispositions (e.g., for conformity) and particular environments (e.g., anomie). Our view highlights the unique affordances for social control that official systems of power make available, and in doing so, we also identify new tactics that meet our criteria of authoritarian behavior (e.g., selective rule enforcement, inequitable administrative burden). In sum, we provide a framework for understanding authoritarianism from a behavioral perspective, provide a bridge between individual ideology and current and historical authoritarian tactics, and highlight novel avenues for the psychological study of both authoritarianism and punishment more broadly.
Authors: Ana P. Gantman, Jordan Wylie, Wil Cunningham, Nicolette Dakin, Connie Pui Yee Chiu, Brendan Michael Fee
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4414510673
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